Going on 28 years of fall food drives and clothes collections, this year’s effort netted 54 carts of food and served 33 central Ohio families. With each of Academy’s three divisions involved in this event, warm clothes, including a coat for every family member, along with new toys made their way into the lawn bags filled gifts and necessities wrapped in holiday paper. On Saturday, November 21, Academy’s Service Board and other volunteers donated goods to the Childhood League families. On November 23, another shipment of items will be delivered to ten families whose children attend the Siebert Elementary School.

With all grade levels involved in some facet of this year’s drive, including faculty and staff, an impressive collection of commodities will serve recommended families at the Childhood League, a school that provides education for many special needs students, from infants to six-year-old children. Around 60% of these families live at or below the poverty line.

Ms. Seymore’s class set up a store at the Childhood League Center. Mrs. Dell and Mrs. Platt worked with the seventh graders, who sorted all of the food donations. The sixth grade team, led by Mr. Carter, selected a week’s worth of food from the various food types to be packed into boxes. The fourth grade shopped for perishable food at Meijer. PACA representative, Mrs. Seline, worked with all divisions.

Academy wants all of its donations to support those in need, so items that are not selected for the sponsored families will be donated to the Brookwood Food Pantry in the downtown area.

Thanks to everyone involved, this year’s “Building with Heart” exemplifies Academy’s commitment to serve those in need.